CN1964873B - Child safety seat, shell and harness - Google Patents

Abstract

A child safety seat arrangement wherein the child is secured to the safety seat by a harness (20). The harness (20) is then secured with respect to the vehicle by a mounting arrangement (26, 44) that is independent of any seat shell (30); preferably there is also a seat shell (20) that is itself secured with respect to the vehicle. Also disclosed is a child safety seat arrangement having a seat shell (30) with apertures (32, 32a) through which a harness (20) can be passed. The harness (20) preferably includes a main harness strap which is looped behind the seat shell, through a pair of apertures therein, to provide two shoulder straps to extend over a child's shoulders. The disclosure also includes multiple pairs of apertures (32, 32a) to allow for adjustment of the height of the shoulder straps.

Description

Child safety seats, seat shells and seat belts

technical field

The present invention relates to child safety seats.

Background technique

In existing child safety seats, the child is restrained in the safety seat by means of a child safety belt, which is connected at the top and bottom to the shell of the safety seat. The seat shell itself is attached to the vehicle using vehicle seat fastening straps, such as lap/fastening straps. Additionally, ties are typically attached to the shell and vehicle anchor points. Typically, a carabiner connector is used on the bracket behind the rear seat to connect the upper tether to the vehicle anchor point.

However, the outer shell of a child safety seat may have defects and weak points which will fail in the event of a crash, thereby endangering the safety of the child. Also, children of different sizes are not always adequately restrained in safety seats.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or eliminate some or all of the disadvantages of conventional child safety seat arrangements.

Contents of the invention

In a first aspect, the invention thus proposes a child safety seat for a vehicle, comprising:

A seat intended to accommodate a child, the seat comprising a seat part and a backrest part;

a tether secured relative to a head end of the backrest portion and adapted to be secured at an anchor point of the motor vehicle; and

a safety belt for securing the child relative to the safety seat, the safety belt comprising a pair of shoulder straps secured at their bottom ends, and wherein the safety belt extends behind the backrest portion for relative The anchor points are fixed.

Existing devices rely on the mechanical integrity of the seat shell to secure the child with respect to the vehicle. In the event of a crash, crash loads are applied to the seat shell. Therefore, child safety depends on the integrity of the seat shell. However, this disadvantage is eliminated with the invention, in which the seat belt is fastened independently of the seat shell.

Typically, both upper and lower portions of the seat belt are secured to the vehicle. The upper portion of the seat belt is usually secured to an upper vehicle anchor point.

The lower portion of the seat belt can be secured with respect to the vehicle using the vehicle seat fastening strap, which can be positioned across the seat shell and the waist of the infant. The first mounting means may thus have one or more loops for passing a vehicle seat fastening strap through, thereby allowing the lower part of the seat belt to be secured with respect to the vehicle.

Both the first and second mounting means may be connected to one or more vehicle anchorage points. Accordingly, each of them may have a connection member, such as a shackle connector.

Although the first and second mounting means may be independent of each other, they may also have common components. In fact, since vehicle anchorage points often only provide one hole or mount to receive the carabiner connector, it is preferred that the first and second mounting means have common members.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, one of the mounting devices may have a connection member for connection to the vehicle anchor, which is further provided with an aperture for receiving the connection member as part of the other mounting device. The connection member to the vehicle anchor may then be shared by the first and second mounting means. There are of course other ways in which components are shared.

The harness has two shoulder straps to extend over the child's shoulders along the child's chest. These shoulder straps may be provided by looping the primary safety tether behind the seat shell and through a hole in the seat shell. Also, the shoulder straps preferably each have a loop towards their bottom for receiving a vehicle seat fastening strap.

The harness is preferably adjustable to accommodate children of different sizes. The length of the safety belt is generally adjustable by means of an adjustable buckle to tighten or loosen the safety belt. The buckle can be covered with padding when in use. In some embodiments the harness may also be adjusted by passing it through an upper or lower hole in the seat shell.

The harness preferably also has cross straps connecting the two shoulder straps at a point below the child's shoulders. The cross straps may be securely secured to one shoulder strap, such as by stitching, but are preferably removably attached to the other shoulder strap, such as by means of a loop through which the shoulder strap may pass. This device has a particular advantage in that the shoulder straps are provided by looping the main safety tether through a hole in it behind the seat shell, since it allows the shoulder straps to be moved after they have passed through the hole (during assembly or adjustment). Simple connection.

A support tether coupled to the seat shell may be secured to a child safety belt or vehicle seat straps to keep the vehicle seat straps as low as possible.

The first mounting device may have an extension strap that is desirably adjustable in length with an adjustable buckle. This allows adjustment of the distance between the seat belt and the location or locations at which it is secured to the vehicle.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a child safety seat arrangement having:

a seat shell for seating a child, having at least one hole therein; and

a seat belt for retaining a child in the seat shell, the seat belt having two shoulder straps to pass over the child's shoulders,

Wherein the seat belt passes through at least one hole in the seat shell.

This allows the shoulder straps to be positioned closer to the child's shoulders than in prior child safety seat arrangements. This allows the child to be more securely held in the safety seat.

Preferably there are one or more pairs of holes through which the shoulder straps can pass, and the main harness straps are provided such that the primary harness is passed through the pair of holes and looped behind the seat shell.

Ideally, there are two or more pairs of vertically spaced holes through which the harness can pass, thereby allowing the height of the shoulder straps to be adjusted.

Preferably, each shoulder strap has a loop for receiving a vehicle seat fastening strap.

Also, the harness may have a cross strap connecting the two shoulder straps at a location below the child's shoulders, which is removably attached to one of the shoulder straps. This is accomplished through the loops of the cross straps that can slip on or off the bottom of the shoulder straps.

In a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a seat shell for a child safety seat arrangement having an aperture through which one or more portions of a seat belt can pass. Preferably, two or more pairs of holes are provided, thereby allowing the height of the harness to be adjusted.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a safety belt for a child safety seat arrangement having a main shoulder strap loopable behind the seat shell to provide two shoulder straps extending over the child's shoulders.

Description of drawings

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a safety belt for use according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a view of a seat belt for use according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a view of a child safety seat device in operation according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a child safety seat device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a top rear view of a child safety seat arrangement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention coupled to a vehicle anchor point;

Figures 6 to 11 show detailed views of mounting devices as used in various embodiments of the invention.

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 shows a child safety belt 20 comprising two shoulder straps 21 and a cross strap 22 . The straps are provided with padding 23 and the lower end of each shoulder strap 21 is provided with a loop 24 to receive a vehicle seat fastening strap. The child safety belt 20 is adjustable in length by means of an adjustable buckle 25 which is covered in padding 24 on one of the shoulder straps 21 during use. There is also a carabiner connector 26 on the upper end of the child safety belt 20 .

In FIG. 2 , the same harness is shown with a further extension tether 27 , which in this case is adjustable with a further adjustable buckle 28 . The extension strap 27 has a connection buckle 35 enabling coupling to the shackle connector 26 . A second carabiner connector 29 is attached to the other end of the extension tether 27 .

Figure 3 shows a front view of the child safety seat arrangement according to the invention in operation. Child safety belt 20 is shown utilizing shoulder straps 21 to retain a child 31 in seat shell 30 . The seat belt 20 passes through a pair of holes 32 in the seat back of the seat shell 30 . The shoulder straps 21 then extend over the child's shoulders and chest. The vehicle waist fastening belt 33 passes through the loop 24 at the lower end of the shoulder belt 21 . The waist fastening strap 33 is then connected to the seat shell 30 optionally with support straps 34 which help to keep the waist fastening strap 33 as low as possible.

In FIGS. 4 and 5 the mounting means for securing the seat belt 20 and the seat shell 30 with respect to the vehicle can be seen. Tether 40 is connected at one end to seat shell 30 at attachment points 41 and 42 and at the other end to vehicle anchorage point 50 via carabiner connector 43 . The length of the strap 40 can be adjusted by means of an adjustable buckle 46 to allow the mounting device to be adapted to different vehicles.

As is also clearly shown from Figures 3 to 5, the seat shell has pairs of holes 32, 32a and 32b. The harness 20 can be looped through any of these pairs to adjust the height of the shoulder straps 21 . It is preferred to have the shoulder straps positioned close to the child's shoulders as this will provide a higher retention force for the child in the safety seat. Although multiple pairs of holes are shown in the preferred embodiment, it is also possible to pass the harness through separate holes in the seat shell. For example, the shoulder straps may be attached before they pass through separate holes.

The seat belt 20 is secured with respect to the vehicle by the carabiner connector 26 , the connecting tether 44 , the buckle 45 and the carabiner connector 43 . In this case, it can be seen that the hook connector 43 is used in common with the mounting means for the seat belt 20 and with the mounting means for the seat shell 30 . However, the seat belt 20 is still secured to the vehicle by means that do not include the seat shell 30 .

Of course, the mounting means for securing the seat belt 20 and seat shell 30 with respect to the vehicle may take other forms. 6-11 illustrate various mounting arrangements for the harness 20 and tethering system 30 .

The arrangement in FIG. 6 eliminates the need for attachment of the tether 44 and the seat belt 20 is secured to the vehicle anchorage point 50 using only the two carabiner connectors 26 and 43 . As can be seen, the shackle connector 43 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 has two holes to receive the tether 40 and the shackle connector 26 . Typically, shackle connectors have only one hole to receive the tie strap they are intended to secure. However, in the present invention, separate hook connectors may be used in common for the mounting means for the seat belt and for the seat shell. Therefore, it needs to be coupled to one or more members of the two mounting arrangements. Additional holes in the shackle connector 43 (shown in FIG. 6 ) increase flexibility in coupling multiple other components to a single shackle connector.

Figure 8 shows the mounting device shown in Figures 4 and 5 in more detail. The tether 40 is connected to a vehicle anchor point 50 by a carabiner connector 43 . Seat belt 20 is secured with respect to the vehicle by hook connector 26 , connecting tether 44 , buckle 45 and hook connector 43 . In this case, it can be seen that the hook connector 43 is used in common with the mounting means for the seat belt 20 and the mounting means for the seat shell 30 .

Figures 7 and 9 also show other options for securing the tether 40 to the carabiner connector 43, and these alternatives are also contemplated in the present invention.

Figures 10 and 11 show an arrangement that may be used when two vehicle anchor mounts 51, 52 are provided. In this case, the mounting means for the seat shell 30 and the seat belt 20 are separate. In FIGS. 10 and 11 , the seat shell is secured (via tether 40 ) to the vehicle by connecting the carabiner connector 43 to one of the vehicle anchor mounts 51 . However, the seat belt 20 is connected to a separate vehicle anchor 52 . FIG. 11 shows the connection directly using the carabiner connector 26 , whereas in FIG. 10 the connecting tether 44 and buckle 45 are also used to secure the child safety belt 20 to the vehicle anchor mount 52 .

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing detailed description, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but is capable of various rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention. Modifications and changes such as are obvious to a person skilled in the art are considered to fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. A child safety seat for a vehicle, comprising: A seat intended to accommodate a child, the seat comprising a seat part and a backrest part; a tether (40) secured relative to the head end of the backrest portion and adapted to be secured to an anchor point (50) on the motor vehicle; and a safety belt (20) for securing the child relative to the safety seat, the safety belt comprising a pair of shoulder straps secured at their bottom ends, and wherein the safety belt ( 20) extends behind said backrest portion to be fixed relative to said anchor point (50). 2. The child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein the safety belt (20) is a length of belt such that one shoulder belt extends rearwardly in a loop so as to be configured as the other shoulder belt. 3. A child safety seat according to claim 2, wherein said length of strap comprises an adjustable first buckle (25). 4. The child safety seat according to claim 2, further comprising a carabiner connector (26) fitted on the upper end of the harness for connection relative to the anchor point. 5. The child safety seat according to claim 4, wherein the tether (40) includes an adjustable first buckle (46) capable of adjusting the tether ( 40) length. 6. A child safety seat as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 4, further comprising an attachment tether extending from the tether to which the safety belt is coupled such that Fasten the seat belt. 7. A child safety seat according to claim 3 or 5, further comprising an attachment tether extending from the tether to which the safety belt is coupled such that the safety belt is secured relative to the anchor point. Said seat belt. 8. A child safety seat according to claim 6, wherein the connecting tether has a buckle (45) to which the harness is coupled. 9. A child safety seat according to claim 7, wherein the connecting tether has a second buckle (45) to which the safety belt is coupled. 10. The child safety seat of claim 4, further comprising a buckle extending from a carabiner connector coupling the harness so as to secure the harness relative to the anchor point. 11. The child safety seat of claim 5, further comprising a second buckle extending from a carabiner connector coupling the harness so as to secure the harness relative to the anchor point. 12. The child safety seat of claim 1 wherein each shoulder strap ends with a loop through which a vehicle seat fastening strap can be passed to secure the bottom end of the harness relative to the vehicle .

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